SH 361 
.U6 
1897b 
Copy 1 



REPORT 



ON 



SEASON OF 1897. 



By LEONHARD STEJNEGER. 



WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 
1897. 



Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2011 with funding from 
The Library of Congress 



http://www.archive.org/details/reportonrookerieOOunit 



REPORT 



ON 



THE ROOKERIES OF IE COMMW 



SEASON OF 1897, 



\\<br 0/ULC^> 



By LEONHARD STEJNEGER. 



WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 
1897. 



* ^.o^ 



Treasury Department, 
Document No. 1997. 

Office of Secretary, Special Agents' Division. 



5"v* »°* 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



Paga 

Itinerary 5 

Acknowledgments 6 

Introductory remarks 7 

Condition of rookeries - 7 

Bering Island : 

North Eookery 7 

South Rookery 10 

Copper Island, Glinka Rookeries 12 

Mortality of pups 12 

Statistics relative to catch, 1897 14 

Is a temporary stoppage of killing on land advisable 16 



INSPECTION OF THE COMMANDER ISLANDS FUR- 
SEAL ROOKERIES, 189T. 



By Leoniiaed Stejneger. 



ITINERARY. 

Leaving Washington on June 5, 1 arrived in Tacoma, Wash., on June 
12, when, on the following day, in company with Mr. Lucas, I proceeded 
in the steamship City of Topelca to Sitka, Alaska. Upon our arrival 
there, June 20, 1 at once embarked in the United States revenue-cutter 
Grant, Captain Munger, commanding. Departed from Sitka the follow- 
ing morning ; arrived in Unalaska June 27. After coaling, the Grant, on 
the 30th, proceeded to the Commander Islands, landing me at Mkolski, 
Bering Island, on July 7. The British commissioner, Prof. D'Arcy 
Thompson, arriving on July 11, he, Mr. Barrett-Hamilton, and myself 
proceeded per dog sledges to the North Rookery, 12 miles distant, 
making an examination of the condition of this rookery. Professor 
Thompson then departed for Copper Island, while Mr. Barrett- Hamilton 
and I remained on Bering Island, deeming the closer inspection of the 
rookeries of the latter island, particularly the South Rookery, of higher 
importance. 

Neither the administrator nor the assistant administrator having as 
yet arrived on the islands, it was considered best to await the arrival 
of the latter, Mr. N. S. Wachsmitth, in order to obtain the necessary 
permission for a protracted stay and a thorough examination of the 
south rookery. In the meantime, Mr. Barrett-Hamilton and I under- 
took another dog-sledge expedition to the north rookery on July 16, 
which was in every way satisfactory. Upon Mr. Wachsmuth's arrival 
we commenced to make the necessary preparations for the trip to the 
South Rookery ; a boat and crew were obtained with some difficulty, tents 
rented, and camp equipage purchased, and on July 19, in the morning, 
we set out for the South Rookery. Although only 20 miles distant from 
Nikolski, it took five days to get there, on account of stress of weather. 
The nights we had to pass on the beaches, sleeping under the over- 
turned boat. Wet and worn, we landed at the rookery on July 24, and 
went at once into camp. Until the 30th we studied this rookery every 
day very carefully at all the stages of the tide and in all kinds of 
weather, and a satisfactory count of the pups was made. -On the latter 
date the Imperial Russian steamship Yakut arrived off the rookery, 
announcing the arrival in Nikolski of Mr. Grebuitski, the administrator, 
and offering to give us passage to the village, an offer we gladly accepted 
as our best chance of returning from the rookery. 

5 



6 ROOKERIES OF THE COMMANDER ISLANDS. 

Upon meeting Mr. Grebnitski, be expressed a desire to have me go 
to the North Rookery with him by boat, and as I was informed that 
Her Britannic Majesty's ship Linnet, which in the meantime had come 
to convey Mr. Barrett-Hamilton to Copper Island, had no accomodations, 
I decided to wait for the next Russian cruiser, and to accompany Mr. 
Grebnitski meanwhile to North Rookery. Press of other official busi- 
ness and unpropitious weather prevented the plan of visiting the North 
Rookery from being carried out, and on the 15th of August I conse- 
quently availed myself of the kind offer of the captain of the Imperial 
Russian cruiser Koreets to give me passage to Copper Island, where L 
was landed on the following day at Preobrazhenskoye village. It being 
deemed impracticable to land at the rookery village then on account 
of the surf, it mattered little that no boat could be obtained until the 
19th, on which day I hired a boat and crew, arrived the day previous, 
and sailed to Glinka on the same day. The Glinka rookeries were 
examined during the following days, but the sealing season having 
been now closed, I could obtain no boat passage to Karabelni and was 
glad to be able to get away from Glinka to Preobrazhenskoye in a 
small boat on August 24. I was thus prevented from inspecting the 
Karabelni rookeries, a failure, however, of bat little importance, on 
account of their comparative insignificance and the lateness of the 
season. 

On August 31 the Yakut called at Preobrazhenskoye, and, the captain 
offering to convey me to Bering Island and from there to Petropaulski, 
I accepted gladly, that I might avail myself of the earliest opportunity 
of returning home, Mr. Barrett-Hamilton having already left the island 
on August 19. I arrived in Petropaulski on September 4, but found no 
vessel going to America or Japan until October 20. The Russian Seal 
Skin Company's steamer Kotin, Capt. C. E. Lindquist, in the meantime 
making a trip to the seal islands for the purpose of bringing back the 
skins, I proceeded in her, in order to inquire into the question of the 
mortality of the seal pups on North Rookery, Bering Island. I conse- 
quently left Petropaulski again on September 22 and arrived at the 
rookery in question the 27th. So unfavorable was the weather, that the 
Kotik had to return to Petropaulski, after nearly four weeks' absence, 
without having accomplished the taking off of the skins. It was my 
original intention to return in that vessel to Japan, but as she must 
make another attempt, which is more than likely to take at least two 
weeks more, I obtained passage in the Japanese steamer Taiyu Maru 
from Petropaulski to Hakodate, Japan, leaving the former port on 
October 20 and arriving at the latter October 25, whence I proceeded 
by railroad to Tokio and Yokohama. The first mail' steamer brought 
me to San Francisco on November 27; on the 29th I conferred with Dr. 
Jordan, at Stanford University, and on December 5 I arrived in Wash- 
ington, D. C. 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. 

I have to acknowledge with thanks the assistance and courtesies, 
both in transportation and otherwise, which I have received from the 
captains and officers of the United States revenue-cutter Grant, Capt. 
P. M. Munger, commanding, the Imperial Russian cruiser Koreets, Cap- 
tain Serebrennikof, commanding, and the Imperial Russian transport 
Yakut, Capt. I. V. Sukhotin, commanding. 

For important information and various assistance I am also under 
obligations to the administrator of the Commander Islands, Mr. N. A. 
Grebnitski, and to the assistant administrator, Mr. N. S. Wachsmuth. 



ROOKERIES OF THE COMMANDER ISLANDS. 7 

To the Russian Seal Skin Company, the lessees of the Commander 
Islands, I am indebted for invaluable help and hospitality rendered by 
the general agent, Mr. Constantine M. G-runwaldt; the local agents on 
the islands, Mr. E. Kluge on Bering Island and Mr. A. Kantor on Cop- 
per Island, and last, but not least, to the captains of the company's 
vessels, Mr. C. B. Lindquist of the steamship Kotik and Mr. D. Gron- 
berg of the barkentine Bering, as well as by Mr. P. H. Powers, the 
company's agent on board the steamship Taiyu Marti. 

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 

The inspection of the Commander Island rookeries during 1897 was 
beset by many difficulties and was at times not devoid of danger, 
chiefly on account of the lack of proper means of transportation. It 
is greatly to be regretted that no vessel could have been spared from 
the United States Revenue Service or Navy to stay about the islands 
during the sealing season. Much more work could then have been 
accomplished and much valuable time have been saved, which was now 
lost in waiting for the uncertain visits of the foreign men-of-war or the 
company's steamer. It must be remembered that the coasts of these 
islands have no harbors, that the weather is usually stormy and foggy, 
that the rookeries are situated 12 to 20 miles away from the villages, 
and that landing at these places is often impossible or dangerous 
for weeks at a time. Thus the steamer Kotik this year was forced to 
return to Petropaulski without having been able to land boats at the 
rookeries of Glinka and Karabelni on Copper Island, although she was 
more than three weeks about attempting the feat. 

Coasting in small open boats along these stormy islands is neither 
pleasant nor without danger. It thus took us five days to make the 
distance of 20 miles from Nikolski to South Rookery, on Bering Island ; 
five days of storm, heavy swell, rain, dangerous surf, and long, weary, 
wet nights on sandy or rocky beaches, with no other shelter than the 
overturned boat. Nor was the sail from Preobrazhenskoye to Glinka 
and back without its harships. Then the long, dreary waiting for the 
ships, the arrival of which can not be known beforehand within weeks, 
with the necessity of being present and prepared to embark imme- 
diately. Under such circumstances work is difficult and at times 
impossible, and the trip, which in addition involves rough passages at 
sea for weeks and weeks in vessels not meant for passenger transpor- 
tation, is anything but a pleasure excursion. 

CONDITION OF THE COMMANDER ISLANDS SEA ROOKERIES DURING 1897. 

BERING ISLAND. 

North Rookery.— -It will be remembered that in my official report for 
1895, entitled The Russian Fur- Seal Islands, 1 I made it a point that 
while the Copper Island rookeries in 1895 showed tremendous falling 
off in the number of breeding females as compared with what I saw 
there in 1882-83 the North Rookery of Bering Island was much less 
affected, although of course a great diminution was quite perceptible 
even then. As an evidence I mentioned the general outline of the 
breeding mass of seals, and more especially a characteristic feature of 
the same, viz, a "band" of harems across the northern end of the 
"sands." This "band" was well shown both in photographs taken in 
1885 and 1895. 



1 See U. S. Fish Commission Bulletin for 1896, Article I, pages 1 to 148. 



8 ROOKERIES OF THE COMMANDER ISLANDS. 

Iii 1896 my visit to this rookery was so late that I had no opportunity 
to institute an intelligent comparison with the conditions of 1895, but 
during the present year (1897) my inspection was contemporaneous with 
that of 1895, at the height of the season, and consequently fully com- 
parable. 

As a result of this inspection I am able to demonstrate a very great 
decrease in the breeding females on North Rookery since 1895.' 

This rookery was visited by me twice during the height of the season 
of 1897 ; first on July 13, in company with Prof. D'Arcy Thompson and 
Mr. Barrett-Hamilton; the second time on July 16, in company with 
the latter gentleman. 

On July 13, at our first visit, the weather was very warm, probably 
as much as + 64° F., with bright sunshine, and at the time of our 
inspection it was very low water. 

Quitealarge number of females were in the water off the Reef Rookery, 
but even allowing liberally for these, it was at once evident that the 
number of females had greatly decreased since I inspected the rookery 
in 1895. The characteristic outline of the breeding mass had not only 
disappeared, there being hardly a trace of the "band," but there was a 
general thinness of the ranks, and the "massed" patches had shriv- 
eled up to an ominous degree. The best portion is still the western 
side of the "sands," but even here the decrease was noticeable, while 
to the north of this the density showed the greatest falling off. The 
"sands" were fringed all around, though on the east side there were 
now actual breaks in the continuity of the line. As already noted, a 
large number of females were in the water off the rookery, both on the 
western and eastern side of the reef. However, on July 15, 1895, the 
date when I photographed this rookery, the weather conditions were 
exactly similar, viz, a hot, sunshiny day, with hardly a breeze stirring, 
and the seals in the water were then equally numerous (see pi. 22, Russ. 
Fur-Seal Isls., and the note referring to the same in the list of illus- 
trations, p. 138). The conditions are, therefore, absolutely comparable. 

It was noted that the pups had already podded to some extent, but 
the season was equally far advanced on July 15, 1895. 

Professor Thompson suggested that we make a rough estimate of the 
number of females actually on the ground (agreeing, as he did, with me 
that a regular count of this rookery is impracticable). We consequently 
counted independently a section at the eastern base of the " sands," 
and both found it to contain about 600 females and 10 bulls. Professor 
Thompson's estimate that the total occupied area of the rookery is 
fifteen times greater than that of the seals counted is possibly not very 
far from the truth, the result being about 9,000 to 10,000 females then 
on the rookery and about 150 bulls. 

We could not get close enough to the seals to ascertain whether there 
was any great mortality among the new-born pups on the rookery ground 
proper. On the western edge of the Ladiginski Peninsula we counted 
about 15 dead pups, most of them with the hair already off. Mr. 
Barrett-Hamilton suggested that some of them might have died in yes- 
terday's drive (the first drive during the season), but the hair on the 
best-preserved pup was already quite loose, and we all agreed that it 
had been dead for several days. 

We next went to Kishotchnaya and found there a similar state of 
affairs. There was not a seal above the steep bevel of the beach : not 
one on the upper, flat, shingly portion which I have called the "parade." 
In 1895 the two lateral sections of this rookery extended a considerable 
distance backward, leaving the middle section bare to the bevel, but 



ROOKERIES OF THE COMMANDER ISLANDS. 9 

all the harems situated there had now disappeared and the number of 
seals appeared nearly one-half less. In 1895 I had to keep well con- 
cealed behind the large stone so as not to disturb the nearest harems, 
which were scarcely 10 yards away. To day Professor Thompson stood 
upright on the top of this rock without the seals on the beach even 
noticing his presence. 

A cursory and rather superficial count of the females gave about 600 
for the northern and 700 for the southern section. Allowing 900 for 
the middle section, the total was about 3,200 females, certainly a 
maximum estimate. 

During our visit three days later, July 16, 1897, there was no change 
in the appearance of this part of the rookery (Kishotchnaya) except 
that there were but very few seals in the water, and a correspondingly 
large number on shore. On account of the unfavorable wind the guard 
whom the starshena sent with us would not allow us to go as far as we 
ourselves deemed safe and prudent. Mr. Barrett-Hamilton being very 
anxious to have a count of this rookery made as far as practicable, I 
agreed to undertake it jointly with him, though protesting that the con- 
ditions were such that not even an approximately accurate count could 
be made. I willingly admit, however, that on account of the great 
reduction in the number of the females since 1895, a count is somewhat 
more feasible now than then. For this count I can claim no more 
accuracy than for a well-considered estimate based upon my experience 
in actually counting and estimating the rookeries on the Pribilof 
Islands, and it is of no value except as a check upon such an estimate. 

We divided the Kishotchnaya rookery into three sections according 
to whether the seals were lying outside the two rocky ledges or between 
them. We counted each division separately and compared the figures. 
For the first section (the southern), which could be observed best, our 
count agreed very closely (viz, 660 and 665), but for the two others Mr. 
Barrett-Hamilton's figures were considerably below mine (about 300); 
mine being the higher ones he accepted them. Following the various 
groups of female seals in the binocle, I could distinguish in the 

Seals. 

South section (43 + 665) „ 708 

Middle section 1, 034 

North section - ■. . 848 

Total (Kishotchnaya) 2,590 female seals, or, in round numbers, 2,600 
females. No allowance was made for seals which could not be seen. 
The number of these can only be guessed at, but including the very 
few seen in the water it is probably safe to say that there was altogether 
nearly 3,000 female seals on Kishotchnaya on July 16, 1897. This is 
also the figure I should have estimated offhand, and agrees pretty 
well with the estimate made July 13, viz, 2,200 and the large number 
seen in the water off the rookery. Eight hundred seals in the water 
occupy a large area, and this figure is probably over rather than under 
the actual number seen by us that day. 

Three thousand then will about represent the maximum number of 
females present at any one time during the height of the season at 
Kishotchnaya, as the day was an ideal one for the seals to remain 
ashore. The weather was perfect, comfortably cool, cloudy, no rain, 
wind light southeast, half water, rising tide. 

At the B,eef we found on the 16th the same state of things as on 
Kishotchnaya, viz, a denser accumulation of the females on shore and 
none, to speak of, in the water; consequently the rookery looked fuller 
than it did three days previously at our first visit, and the gaps between 



10 ROOKERIES OF THE COMMANDER ISLANDS. 

the patches appeared more or less closed up. The capacity of Reef 
rookery for this season (1897) was undoubtedly at its highest to-day, 
yet that characteristic " band " across the " sands " was not there, not 
even a trace, as the few individuals which we had noticed on the 13th 
had now left it. Nothing attests better the decrease of this rookery 
since 1 visited it in 1895. 

Another point brought out by my inspection of the Bering Island 
rookeries in 1895 was the relative dearth of old bulls as compared with 
the condition on the Copper Island rookeries. The disproportion of 
the sexes was still evident on North Rookery in 1897, though much less 
marked than in 18'»5, on account of the decrease of the females. It 
would be waste of time and paper to try to present figures to demon- 
strate it, as the counts that have been made are utterly worthless. 
There may have been 150 bulls on the Reef this year, or there may 
have been 200; there is no way of telling with certainty. The rookery 
had of necessity to be watched from such a distance that only a frac- 
tion of the bulls can be seen. 

On Kishotchnaya the conditions are somewhat better, but the result 
of our count is not very satisfactory, as a recital of our experience on 
July 13 will show. The fact is, that the bulls are often so concealed 
while lying down among the females that it is impossible to see them, 
unless they are roused so as to stand up, and such a rousing can only 
be effected here in a few instances. A count of the bulls actually seen 
is therefore sure to be considerably under the true number. This was 
very forcibly shown during our inspection of Kishotchnaya on July 13. 
We had counted 7 bulls in the southern section, when Mr. Rogers, 
Professor Thompson's assistant, accidentally stampeded a portion of 
the females. At once 3 bulls, hitherto overlooked, got up in full view, 
and Rogers, to use Mr. Barrett-Hamilton's own words, u by stampeding 
them added 3 bulls to my list." 

The general proposition, however, that there are still proportionally 
much fewer males on Bering Island than on Copper Island holds good 
(even after the killing of a number of them last year on the latter 
island) and is conceded by all. 

Whether this comparative dearth of males on Bering Island is par- 
ticularly injurious to the condition of the herd will find a negative 
answer in the South Rookery of Bering Island, as suggested by me on 
page 64 of my Russian Fur-Seal Islands. 

South Rookery. — In view of the above suggestion I was ordered to pay 
special attention to the South Rookery during 1897. 

There being no inhabitable house at this rookery, we were obliged to 
camp in the neighborhood, and from July 24 to 30 we (Mr. Barrett- 
Hamilton and myself) visited the rookery two or three times a day. 

It will be remembered that this rookery is very small and situated 
under a steep bluff, which makes it possible to count the seals with some 
degree of accuracy. My visit in 1895 was too short to allow an actual 
count of the females, but I estimated their number at " about 600," while 
the maximum number of sikatchi, or bulls, was said by good authority 
to have been only 5 during that season. In my report upon that visit 
I urged tbe advisability of undertaking an exact count of the young 
ones the following year, in order to ascertain whether these few bulls 
had been sufficient for the impregnation of the whole number of females. 
I myself arrived too late in 1896 to be able to do it, and nobody else 
took up the suggestion. It was ascertained, however, that no more 
than 6 sikatchi had frequented the rookery that year. 



ROOKERIES OP THE COMMANDER ISLANDS. 11 

In 1897 Mr. Barrett-Hamilton agreed to undertake the count in com- 
mon with myself. At first we intended to drive the jmps off in a body 
and count them in that way, but there were various objections to this 
plan; first, that the driving would materially interfere with the sealing 
at this rookery, the bachelors hauling up among the females and being 
culled from among these; second, that so many of the pups were in the 
water during the day (at low water) that it would be impossible to 
gather them all together on land, while in the evening when they all 
came ashore, water was high, thus preventing any driving at all. We 
relinquished this plan the more willingly as we found it quite feasible 
to make a fairly accurate count from the bluff overlooking the rookery. 

Our general mode of procedure was first to define small separate 
groups of pups on shore and to count each one of these separately, 
then compare our figures, and, in case of disagreement, to count them 
over and over again until we arrived at nearly the same figures. We 
then counted those lying among the females nursing, those on separate 
rocks in the water, and those swimming. After a series of counts we 
found that only those made in the evening at high water when all the 
pups were ashore were of any value. An average of a selection of our 
best counts (7) gives 526 pups (minimum, 516; maximum, 533), which 
may be accepted as nearly exact. 

Similar counts of the females were made regularly. As a matter of 
course, the figures for the various counts of the females vary very much 
more than those of the pups for two obvious reasons : First, because the 
actual number of females present on the rookery varies greatly from day 
to day, while that of the pups is constant, except for the gradual increase 
due to new births or slight decrease due to death ; second, because there 
nearly always were a number of females swimming off the rookery, the 
number of which had to be more or less closely estimated. Nevertheless, 
the average of nine of our best counts may be taken as a fair daily aver- 
age of the breeding females present at this rookery during our visit in 
1897, this average being 449. 

The experience of last year on the Pribilof Islands, where it was 
found that the number of pups on the rookeries was nearly twice as 
great as the number of females counted as present in the harems at the 
height of the* season, had prepared us for the above results, viz, a 
greater number of pups than of cows counted. On the other hand, it 
would be very erroneous were we to take the above number of females 
and to that apply a correction derived from the census of St. Paul 
Island, in order to find out the number of pups which ought to have 
been on the South Eookery in 1897, for the reason that the above 
figure of 449 females also includes all the seals that were seen in the 
sea off the rookery in addition to those in the harems on shore. The 
average number of females on shore (nine counts) was about 236 (maxi- 
mum 395, minimum 174). 

Only 2 full-grown bulls attended to this rookery. A young bull, or 
polusikatch, was observed occasionally on the outskirts of the two 
harems; but his visits were not regular, and when there he was only 
attended by a couple of cows. The two bulls were also unevenly 
matched, for it was evident that the larger and apparently older bull 
had the greatest attraction in the eyes of the cows, as most of the 500 
females belonged to his harem. I do not believe that more than a 
dozen cows were the legitimate property of the younger bull. One 
evening (July 28) he was quite alone, separated from the other harem, 
consisting of 174 females, by a pod of about 300 sleeping pups. 



12 ROOKERIES OF THE COMMANDER ISLANDS. 

Astounding as it appears, there can be but little doubt that the single 
oh 1 bull had served the great majority of the 526 females on this rook- 
ery and, moreover, was in fit condition to keep the younger bull at a 
respectful distance as late in the season as July 30. 

For 520 pups to have been born on this rookery in 1897 the 6 bulls 
which were there in 1896 must have been sufficient to impregnate 
probably at least 750 cows, as a number of the latter were undoubtedly 
killed during the pelagic sealing in the autumn of 1896 and spring of 
1897, besides those perishing from other causes during the winter 
migration. This result sets definitely at rest any fears that may have 
been entertained respecting the sufficiency of the male element now 
doing duty on the North Rookery of Bering Island. 

COPPER ISLAND. 

Glinka Rookeries. — Owing to the lack of means of transportation, I 
was unable to reach the Glinka Rookeries until August 20. A detailed 
and conclusive comparison with the conditions of these rookeries in 

1896 and 1895 is therefore out of the question. The beaches were now 
to a great extent occupied by the newly arrived yearlings and 2-year- 
old virgin cows; yet it was quite possible, in places at least, to judge 
of the extent of the harems during the earlier part of the season. From 
such observations as I was enabled to make, I have no hesitation in say- 
ing that the year 1897 shows some decrease of the seals observed by 
me in 1895, though not nearly as great as the falling off in the breed- 
ing areas on Bering Island North Rookery. 

Under the circumstances, it would be useless to go into details, but 
I may say that the places where I noticed a diminution in the area 
occupied by the seals were at Zapadni, south end of rookery ; at Palata, 
where I found that the seals had almost abandoned the brow of the 
clayey bank to the north of the gully and the elevated flat ground 
between the latter and that bank; also at Zapalata I noted conditions 
indicating a failing off both at the western end and at the middle por- 
tion of the eastern end ; at the rookery of TJrili Karnen the middle 
portion seems to have disappeared. 

My observations relative to the falling off of the Balata breeding 
grounds are verified by a photograph by Mr. N. 1ST. Lukin-Feodotitch, 
the Government overseer at Glinka, taken, on July 28 (new style). 

The overstocking of these rookeries with bulls and half bulls was 
startlingly evident, in spite of the lateness of the season. On all the 
abandoned breeding grounds there were groups of solitary bulls to be 
seen, while among the female seals, old and young, there was a large 
quantity of young bulls imitating the performance of the older sikatchi 
during the early part of the season. The killing of 172 superfluous 
bulls during 1896 does not seem to have had much effect; the number 
was too insignificant in proportion to those that were left, and during 

1897 no bulls at all were killed off. This is greatly to be regretted, for 
while it is quite true that there is not the same chance of trampling to 
death of the newborn pups as in certain other rookeries, there are, never- 
theless, a number of pups killed in this way, and the presence of this 
superfluity of males on the breeding ground is certainly not promoting 
the best interest of the rookeries. 

MORTALITY OF PUPS. 

Up to the end of our stay at South Rookery (July 30) no startling- 
mortality Avas visible there. Early trampling to death was almost out 



ROOKERIES OF THE COMMANDER ISLANDS. 13 

of the question, and if any newborn pups died in this or any other 
way, the bodies had been eaten or carried away by the blue foxes. 
During our stay we observed only three or four dead pups. Mr. Bar- 
rett-Hamilton on the last day secured three of these, but on account of 
our sudden departure no autopsy was made. This was hardly neces- 
sary, for the bodies were exceedingly emaciated and the rectum con- 
tained the tarry feces so characteristic of starvation. Besides these 
we noticed a few pups which appeared weak, as if starving. 

At Glinka, on August 20. I saw a great number of decayed carcasses 
of young pups, probably a hundred or more, between Zapadni and 
Sabatcha Dira. These had apparently been dead a long time. There 
were no dead bodies of pups which had died within a few days, though 
I found a couple, of comparatively recent date, which from their extreme 
leanness appeared to have starved to death. A few, but only a few, 
of the pups which we saw on shore appeared weak and thin, and only 
one was in a so far advanced state of starvation as to make its death 
within a few days a matter of certainty. 

Hoping to have a chance to investigate the question of the mortality 
of the pups on North Bookery, Bering Island, during the time while 
the steamer was taking on board the skins, I returned to the islands 
during the latter part of September. 

On September 27 I went ashore at that rookery in the first boat and 
at once proceeded to the rookery ground in order to lose no time, as 
the vessel was only going to stay a few, hours. There were only a few 
hundred female seals ashore, and as it was low water, these were chiefly 
located on the outer rocks and mostly on the eastern side of the reef 
The weather was cloudy, with heavy squalls of a fresh southeaster, 
occasionally a light drizzling rain. Having received the oral permis- 
sion of Mr. Grebnitski to go anywhere on the rookeries, I did not notify 
the kossak, who was at his house half a mile away. 

I commenced to count the dead jmps w r hich J saw in the windrows 
around the " sands," starting from the southwestern end, distinguishing 
between those which had died within the last couple of weeks and 
those which were so utterly decayed as to indicate death at a very 
early period, probably shortly after birth. In the windrow around 
the "sands" I counted 429 comparatively fresh carcasses and 143 old 
ones ; total, 572. The former were rather large black pups with a large 
proportion of gray ones, or gray in part. They showed every appear- 
ance of being starved to death. A few dying gray pups, lean and 
helplessly crawling about on their bellies, were seen, and only very 
few, scarcely more than half a dozen, perfectly fresh bodies. Two or 
three skeletons, perfectly fresh and pink, showed how the large gulls 
(Larus glaucescens) had disposed of some of the bodies, while the 
presence of a couple of blue foxes accounts for the others. 

I have pointed out in my former reports that the foxes, so numerous on 
these islands, are accountable for the disappearance of a great number 
of dead pups from the beaches, and I may add here that our observa- 
tions on the South Bookery make it appear probable that the number of 
the recently born dead pups eaten and carried away by the foxes is 
proportionately less than that of the starved pups, for several reasons: 
First, at the time of the births of the pups there is enough offal left on 
the killing grounds to make these more profitable to the foxes; second, 
the new-born dead pups are lying among the seals and it is as much as 
a fox's life is worth to venture in among the harems. We saw repeat- 
edly how the cows resented the intrusion of the foxes and chased 
them off, and it was only by constant watching that the fox was 



14 



ROOKERIES OF THE COMMANDER ISLANDS. 



enabled to snatch a body away; and, thirdly, the young foxes were 
growing all the time, requiring more and more food, and finally them- 
selves inv ding the rookeries where there would be no difficulty in 
securing the starved pups later in the season. 

Having finished the count around the "sands," I proceeded to count 
the bodies on and around the rocks at the water's edge and the higher 
portions of the "sands," when I was stopped by a guard sent by the 
overseer, the kossak Selivanof, with an order for me to leave the rookery 
on the pretense that "the wind was bad." In spite of the absurdity of 
the excuse, as I was on the lee side of the few hundred seals on the 
beach, I obeyed at once, having as a matter of necessity no other course 
open to me. Selivanof was in the village, and by the time I could see 
him and remonstrate it would be too late to begin the count again, as 
the steamer could not wait for me. The skins being nearly all in, I 
returned, therefore, to the ship. 

Though consequently exact figures can not be furnished, it is never- 
theless certain that there, has been in 1897 a considerable mortality 
among the pups on North Rookery, Bering Island, due to starvation. 

Statistics relative to the fur-seal catch on the Commander Islands, summer, 1S97. 

BERING ISLAND DRIVES. 

NORTH ROOKERY. 



~Ko. of 
drive. 


Date 

(new 
style). 


Locality. 


Bache- 
lors. 


Cows. 


Total. 


1 


1897. 
July 12 

July 27 

July 28 
Aug. 6 
Aug. 12 

Aug. 21 

Aug. 26 

Sept. 7 




60 
186 
183 
775 
189 
722 
920 
216 
519 
181 
118 
352 
a 96 
6 223 
oll9 


4 
2 
3 

1 

2 

1 
1 


60 




Reef 


186 


2 




183 




Reef 


779 


3 


Reef 


191 


4 


Reef 


725 


5 


Reef ' 


921 






218 


6 


Reef • 


519 


7 


Kishotclmaya 


181 

118 




Reef 


353 


8 




96 




Lieef 


224 






119 




Total 








4, 873 






1 



a Of these 10 w;;re stagey. b 23 stagey. 

SOUTH ROOKERY. 



c 17 stagev. 



No. of 
drive. 



Date (new style) . 



Bachelors. 



1897. 

July 14 

July 20 

August 1 

August 9 

August 24 

August 28 .■ 

September 7 

Two damaged skins 

Total 



151 
2 



ROOKERIES OF THE COMMANDER ISLANDS. 



15 



Statistics relative to the fur-seal catch on the Commander Islands, summer, 1897 — Cont'd. 

COPPER ISLAND DRIVE. 

GLINKA. 





Date 


drive. 


(new 

style). 




1897. 


1 


July 3 


2 


July 4 


3 


July 5 


4 


July 12 


5 


July 18 


6 


July 25 


7 


July 27 


8 


July 28 


9 


July 30 


10 


Aug. 3 


11 


Aug. 9 


12 


Aug. 19 


13 


Aug. 20 


14 


Aug. 23 


15 


Aug. 26 



Locality. 



South end of island and other places 

Sikatchiuskaya 

Babi Podiom 

Urili Kamen, Pagani, Sabatchi Dira, Palata 

Palata 

Sabatchi Dira 

Zapadni, Sabatchi Dira 

Zapalata ■ 

Zapalata, Babi Podiom 

Zapadni, Urili 

Zapalata, Palata, Zapadni, Urili 

Palata 

Zapadni 

Babi Podiom 

Palata 



Total . 



Over 20 : Under 7 „ F . U \ 1 . 
poind*. Pounds.™^ 



6 

3 

1 

212 

3 

22 

19 



333 
631 
257 

1,071 

63 

a 344 

a 554 

449 

321 

243 

208 

47 

64 

23 

19 



34S : 4,627 4,976 



Total. 



339 

634 

258 

1,283 

66 

363 

573 

557 

321 

285 

221 

57 

71 

26 

19 



a Including 1 cow. 
KARABELNI. 



No. of 


Date 


drive. 


(new 
style) . 




1897. 


1 


July 4 


2 


July 6 


3 


July 13 


4 


July 20 


5 


July 26 


6 


Aug. 2 


7 


Aug. 4 


8 


Aug. 6 


9 


Aug. 10 


10 


Aug. 23 



Localjty. 



Pull 



Under 7 



Total. 



Stolp 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

Bolshaya Bukhta, 

Yodopad 

Stolp 



Total. 



260 

122 

285 

112 

58 

73 

73 

79 

187 

19 



284 
127 
299 
113 

58 

74 
a 76 

79 
199 

20 



1,288 I 1,329 

I 



a Including 1 cow. 



SUMMARY OF COMMANDER ISLANDS AND ROBBEN ISLAND CATCH, SUMMER 1897- 

Bering Island: 

North Rookery 4, 873 

South Rookery : 153 

Total 5,026 

Copper Island : 

Glinka Rookeries 4, 976 

Karabelni 1, 329 

Caught in sea-otter nets 4 

Total 6,309 

Commander Islands, total 11, 335 

Robben Island 214 

Grand total 11, 549 

As might have been expected, the catch was considerably smaller 
than that of the corresponding season of 1896, the Bering Island rook- 
eries and Karabelni showing a great falling oft'. The slight increase 
of the Glinka catch is caused by an unusual activity on the part of the 
Government agents in killing seals by means of boats at places on 
the shore where no killing was formerly thought possible. It is quite 



16 ROOKERIES OF THE COMMANDER ISLANDS. 

characteristic that not a single seal was obtained at the old hauling 
ground at Pestshani, which formerly yielded the large majority of the 
skins. So desperate has the raking of these rookeries become, that 
during the present summer the bachelors were culled from among the 
breeding cows in some places, as on Bering Island. Conditions seem to 
have been similar at Karabelni, as the chief hauling ground, Vodopad, 
yielded only 11)9 skins. 

It will be noted that if the killing had been stopped on August I, 
the total for the Commander Islands would only have been 6,633 skins. 
Nothing could better illustrate the straits to which these rookeries 
have come. 

IS A TEMPORARY STOPPAGE OF KILLING- ON LAND ADVISABLE? 

The propriety of prohibiting the killing of fur seals on land for a 
period of five years, as a means of building up the seal herd, has of late 
been discussed by the Russian authorities. The success in former 
years of such a cessation of killing on land, or "zapuska" as it is 
called, as well as its advantage in the management of the fox and sea- 
otter hunt, have undoubtedly influenced them; but they have plainly 
failed to see the difference between those old zapuskas, which protected 
the females as well as the males, and the zapuska of the present, the 
employment of which would only mean the protection of the males 
alone when on land. When at sea, they would be subjected to the 
same danger from the pelagic hunter as the females. It shows that 
they have utterly failed to grasp the two essential points of the seal 
question as it stands to-day, viz, that the decline of the seal herd 
is solely due to pelagic sealing, and that the increase and consequent 
rehabilitation of the herd depends solely upon the preservation of the 
female seals. If pelagic sealing be stopped, no zapuska is necessary, 
or, as I shall show, it will be directly hurtful. If pelagic sealing be 
continued, a zapuska will not only not protect the herd on shore, but 
it will directly result in increased catches for the pelagic sealers as 
long as the zapuska lasts, since they will have the additional males to 
prey upon which will have been spared on land. 

Now, the future prosperity of the seal herd depends upon the num- 
ber of females it contains; the number of bachelors is irrelevant in this 
connection. Suppose pelagic sealing be suppressed and a five years' 
zapuska instituted on the Commander Islands: what would result? At 
the end of the five years there would be exactly as many females as if 
no zapuska had been, not one more (possibly some less), because no 
female seals would have been killed even if the zapuska had not 
been kept. But there certainly would be a great many more killable 
seals at the beginning of the sixth year than during any one of the pre- 
ceding years. A little reflection, however, will show that their total 
number must be less than the total sum of killed ones during these 
preceding years, inasmuch as the 2 to 4 years' old bachelors of these 
years would have escaped the killing and become sikatchi, that is, 
available rookery bulls, and consequently unfit for killing during the 
zapuska. And how would it look on the rookeries'? Copper Island is 
already overstocked with bulls to such an extent that it would greatly 
benefit the herd to decimate them now; with a five years' zapuska the 
conditions would be infinitely worse. On Bering Island there is no 
overstocking of males now, but there is nothing to indicate that there 
are not enough bulls, and five years' prohibition would bring about the 
same deplorable condition as on Copper Island; in fact, the results 



ROOKERIES OF THE COMMANDER ISLANDS. 17 

would be more disastrous, for the nature of the rookery beach on Bering 
Island is much less favorable to the pups in protecting them from being- 
trampled to death. 

To sum up, a zapuska as contemplated would result in (1) no addition 
of a single female to the herd; (2) loss in the total number of killables; 
(3) highly injurious overstocking of the rookeries with fighting males, 
and (4) a consequent heavy loss of young pups killed shortly after birth. 

A zapuska without total stoppage of pelagic sealing would be even 
more senseless, as the females would continue to decrease at a much 
greater rate than the males, more females than males being killed at 
sea, and the resultant overstocking of the rookeries with bulls would be 
even more disproportionate and more disastrous. 

That these considerations are not mere fanciful theories is plainly 
shown by our experience on the Pribilof Islands. As soon as the fall- 
ing off in the catch of the bachelors called attention to the decrease of 
the seal herd a halt was called; the killing on* land was reduced to a 
minimum. The temporary officials were then under the same erroneous 
impression as the Eussian authorities now, viz, that the calamity con- 
sisted in the decrease of the bachelors, and they overlooked that it was 
the females, and they only, that needed being looked after. For several 
years only a fraction of the killable seals was allowed to be taken. 
What was the result? A single additional female on the rookeries? 
No; loss to the lessees and the Government of the bachelors spared; a 
corresponding gain to the pelagic sealers ; a deplorable superabundance 
of bulls on the Pribilof rookeries, and numerous pups trampled to 
death soon after their birth. America has thus paid very dearly for 
her blunder. Are the Russians going to repeat it? 

It is quite possible that they may quote the example of Eobben Island. 
Thus, in 1891, only 450 skins were taken; then, in 1892, none; but in 
1893, 1,500. Apart from the fact that raiding on land took place, I 
will only call attention to the fact that until within the last couple of 
years the killing on Eobben Island was not so rigidly restricted to the 
males as is usual on the other rookeries. 

Finally, it may be said against me that I have formerly favored a 
"total prohibition of killing on land one year." J It must be remembered 
that the recommendation in question was penned in 1895. At that time 
the number of males on Bering Island was more disproportionate than 
at present; consequently it seemed more desirable to increase the num- 
ber of bulls. At that time we did not have the experience from the 
South Eookery, which shows that a much smaller number of males is 
sufficient than has hitherto been held possible. 

I may add that the recommendation was made upon the supposition 
of a temporary suspension of pelagic sealing only, and that it was 
thought necessary to make some such concession to the pelagic sealer 
in order to obtain this suspension. Since 1895 we have learned a great 
deal, and progress is only possible if we recognize and renounce our 
past mistakes. 

It can now be asserted with certainty that a zapuska of five years, 
or of one year, will retard the rehabilitation of the rookeries not only 
for so many years as the zapuska lasts, but until the blunder be cor- 
rected by a wholesale killing off of the superfluous bulls resulting at 
the end of the zapuska. 

1 Russian Fur-Seal Islands, p. 136. 
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